no large portion of his material creation without animated existences. MR. BUEL. In one of your late numbers, you speak of having sent some of the Dutton Corn into New-Jersey, but of the success of which you had not heard. A barrel of it was sent to me, part of which I planted, and the rest was distributed among my neighbors. I planted in different fields, and in all instances, other kinds of corn in the same field, and with equal chances to each, but with very different resultsthe Dutton having, in every case, yielded more than any other-besides having more and better fodder from it, because the stalks are smaller and more easily eaten by cattle. In one field, a sward of ten years standing, I planted it by the side of another kind of usual good product, and the two kinds produced in the proportion of three hundred to two hundred and fifty-two acres of the Dutton corn having produced three hundred bushels of ears, and the other two hundred and fifty-the land and the tillage in all respects the same; and yours was cut up two weeks earlier than the other, being fully fit on the first of September, when I commenced it. N. Jersey, Feb. 1836. G. H. M'CARTER. CURING HAY IN COCK. MR. EDITOR-Having been a subscriber to your valuable paper, some two years, and having perused it with anxiety and pleasure, and I think not without profit, I have been waiting to hear from some one more able gard to the curing of hay. But as I have not found any thing that seemed to meet my mind, I have ventured to give you my views on this important subject. The upper horizontal row, in fig. 2, exhibits the proportional mag-to give the necessary information than myself, some direction with renitudes of the primary planets, compared with each other, and with the sun, as represented by fig. 2. Saturn. Jupiter. Herschel. Mars. The Earth. Venus. Mercury. The lower horizontal row, in fig. 2, exhibits the proportional apparent magnitudes of the sun as seen from the primary planets. A Mercury. B Venus. C the Earth. D Mars. E Jupiter. Saturn. G Planet Herschell, or Georgium sidus. Agricultural Improvement.-We have frequently adverted to the improvement of Scotch husbandry. In confirmation of our opinion, we quote the following sentence from the December number of the Edinburgh Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. It is the remark of William Aiton, and is high authority. "Every person who has reached the age of fifty years, and that has paid the least attention to the progress of agriculture, will admit, that the produce of land has been far more than doubled within that period; and every intelligent farmer will also admit, that our arable land is capable of producing double its present produce in the the course of twenty years." CORRESPONDENCE. REMEDY FOR BOTS IN HORSES. J. BUEL, Esq.-Dear Sir.-In the last April number of the Cultivator, is a remedy for bots in horses; and my object in this communicaion is, to give publicity to the fact, that the life of one of my horses was reserved by the use of that remedy, after having tried every thing that could be thought of by an experienced farrier. I would recommend the use of that remedy to all in like cases. Very respectfully yours, Sherburne, Feb. 22, 1836. ISRAEL FOOTE. The prescription is-Mix one pint of good vinegar with half a pint of good sifted ashes, in a bottle, and turn the dose down the horse's throat while effervescing. From one to three bottles will suffice, given at intervals of twenty or twenty-five minutes, if found necessary. Knox, February 10, 1836. DEAR SIR.-Having determined to cultivate a piece of ground with || potatoes last season, partly by way of experiment, in the manner recommended in the Cultivator, for hoed crops, I chose a half acre of land situated in the corner of an old pasture, a part of it too wet for ordinary cultivation, and the remainder produced but a scanty herbage. The following is a statement of the estimated expense and the result:Expense for underdraining,...... $2 50 Carting and spreading ten loads of coarse manure from the barn yard,.. 2 50 Nicely turning over the sod, by once ploughing,. 100 Harrowing and furrowing, two and a half feet apart, so as not to disturb the sod, 1.00 1st. What is there in hay, that causes it to sustain and nourish animal life? I think, sir, that the oil that it contains, is the nourishing part. Now, sir, this being the case, the next most important question is, in what stage of its growth does it contain the most oil. This, I think, can be answered by reference to the distilling of perpermint; that herb produces most oil, if cut when full in the blow; and I think grass contains most oil when in the same state. The next question is, how can it be cured, and in the curing loose the least oil. Perhaps this may be demonstrated by again having reference to the distilling of peppermint. It it has wilted, it loses a portion of the oil, and further, if it is suffered to is well known that if that herb is suffered to lie exposed to the sun after lie packed together in a large mass, and heat, almost all the oil is carried off by such fermentation. Now, sir, if these facts are applicable to the curing of hay, then as soon as grass is wilted, it should be put up in small cocks, not suffi ciently large to heat, and should thus remain until sufficiently cured to put in a large mass without fermentation. For in case it heats or ferments, it loses in weight and bulk, and loses more in oil, or in its nourishing properties than in both, (viz. weight and bulk,) becomes stiff, and loses almost all its nourishing properties. Hence I have frequently observed, that when the weather has been unfavorable, I have carried hay into my barn when it was well wilted, and by spreading it in the barn until it becomes sufficiently cured, so that though packed in a mass, it would not ferment,-that such hay is most readily devoured by the stock, and appears to afford them the most nourishment. This being the case, as many intelligent farmers have proved, it appears to say that hay should not be exposed to the sun after it is well wilted, and should be well cured before it is put in a mass, so that it may not lose from fermentation. Dear sir, I am not a man of science and learning, and am not in the habit of writing for the press; but, sir, if there is any thing herein contained, that you shall think worth an insertion in your valuable paper, you are at liberty to insert it, after correcting mistakes. Yours, &c. SETH JOHNSON. We think that Mr. Johnson is right, in his practice and in his reasons. Hay loses in its nutritious properties-the properties which nourish and fatten the animal-call it oil, or sugar, or mucilage, or what you will, by long exposure to the rays of a hot sun. We also dry in small cocks, after the grass is wilted. It then dries all alike, except a portion upon the surface of the cock-the baneful influence of the sun is excluded-an equalization of moisture takes place, and if left to cure here, it never afterwards heats in the mow or stack. Hay exposed several days to the sun loses its color and much of its nutriment. -Conductor. 1 JESSE BUEL, Esq.-Sir-I am induced to call the attention of sheep farmers, to a subject of deep interest, through the medium of your valuable and extensively circulated publication, the Cultivator, which I hope may tend to arrest the progress of a disease that is at present reducing the flocks in many parts of this state; so far as I can ascertain this loss is confined to the full blood merinos. I made a considerable addition to my flock in November last of this breed, and they appeared to thrive well until the middle of January, about which time a few lambs wer frozen to death by the unusual severity of the season; however, since To J. BUEL, Esq.-Sir-I have read most of the periodical works on agriculture, which have appeared on either side of the Atlantic, but not till very recently, the Cultivator: the twenty-three first number of which were lent me by a friend, and after an attentive examination of their contents, I can sincerely say, that I consider it one of the best conducted and most useful publication upon the subject that I have perused. I have requested your agent in this city, to procure me all the published numbers, and shall, in future, be a constant subscriber and occasional contributor. I beg to offer the following hasty and desultory observations as my first communication. Writing anonymously, (for reasons mentioned in the accompanying private note,) it may not be improper to state, that I am no novice in agriculture, having for several years, before I arrived in this country, occupied a quantity of land more than would suffice to form twenty farms, which would be considered large in this vicinity, and I now farm 400 acres of excellent soil. You, sir, and your subscribers, may rely upon my stating nothing, as matter of fact, which I do not know to be so. the saucer to prevent further escape. On the following day all were alive and merry, though their backs were as white with lime as a miller's with flour dust. Having a small bed of turnips attacked by the fly, I scattered quick lime and ashes over them early in the morning, while the dew was on; at twelve o'clock I found the insects as busy as ever at their work of destruction, and counted no less than five on the seed leaves of a single plant thickly powered with the "remedy." I appre hend that lime, in fine powder, thinly spread, becomes almost instantly carbonated and effete by exposure to the atmosphere. Can any of your correspondents mention an instance where lime has certainly been the sole cause of destruction to the aforesaid nuisances? Natural causes frequently produce effects which experimentalists are too apt to attri bute to artificial applications. I last spring sowed mangel wurzel at various distances, to ascertain which was the most advantageous. A workman who was carting manure, having carelessly left the gate open, great part of my crop was eaten by cows, but of the remainder I found the plants which stood only one foot apart as large as those at greater distances; both were an excellent crop. I would recommend that the rows should be just far enough apart to admit the cultivator, and that the plants should not be left more than ten inches or a foot asunder. Even if a less weight should be produced by close planting, the quantity of nourishment would probably be as great or greater; for M. Chaptal asserts, that beets of one or two pounds weight, yield, in proportion, double the amount of sugar to that which is produced by roots of ten or twenty pounds; and sugar is nourishment. The smaller roots are much more conveniently prepared for the manger, &c. I have fifteen acres of land, cleared two years ago, which produced last year an immense crop of wheat straw, but scarcely fifteen bushels of grain per acre. The soil is a deep, warm, sandy loam, among which lime stones are thinly scattered. This field I shall plant next May with early twelve rowed Indian corn, at various distances, and carefully note the produce per acre, of each division. The result shall be communicated to the Cultivator. I am, sir, very respectfully, yours. Boston, February 17, 1836. COLONUS. SHEEP HUSBANDRY.-No. IV. WOOL, THE COAT OF THE SHEEP. The laws of nature are determined above the power of man to counteract. It is almost as preposterous to attempt any permanent improvement of the (Greyhound,) and of the distinctive sheep denominated Merino, by any foreign admixture, as the improvement of wheat by attempting its admixture with rye or barley. The wild goose sustains his distinctive character, in defiance of the own opinion to established facts, ultimately concur in the conclusion, that the wild and tame goose cannot be permanently assimilated. Man should be an intent, admiring, discriminating observer of nature's works and laws. The human inhabitants of so large a portion of our globe, are under the necessity of so protecting themselves from cold and wet by clothing, as to render the best material an object of primary estimation. Wool, the covering of the sheep, has hitherto mostly supplied this requirement. Wool, in its varieties of soft, fine, elastic and glossy, elicits the inquiry, on what causes are these varieties and properties dependent and influenced? All these considerations involve the philosophical considerations of the subtility of cohesion of particles, attraction, agglutina tion, elasticity, light, &c, &c. In the Cultivator of January last, page 168, your intelligent correspondent, Mr. L. F. ALLEN, uses the following language: "I hold that there is no straw, corn, fodder or grass, cut on a farm, with the ex-arts of civilization. And Buffon, together with those that prefer their ception, perhaps, of the straw of peas, beans, and buckwheat, but what may be consumed as food." This is calculated to impress inexperienced readers with an idea that the excepted articles are, at least, of doubtful value as food. Now, sir, I can assure Mr. Allen, from experience, that the straws of peas and beans (Phaseoli) are the most valuable food for stock of any straws that he can grow upon his farm. Many of the finest farm-teams in Great Britain, are maintained on them through the first months of winter, without any hay, and the haulm of peas, well harvested, is considered by intelligent farmers there, as fully equal to hay in feeding sheep: all horned cattle will thrive upon it. Of course both these straws should be cut sufficiently small. As to the straw of buckwheat, I have no experience, but I know that this plant, cut when in bloom, makes good hay. I beg respectfully also to submit for the consideration of Mr. Allen, and your readers, whether the plan of his barn, as described by him in the same number, is not liable to the following objections. 1st. That its being entirely surrounded by stables and cattle houses, might prove injurious to the grain, &c. deposited in its bays, upon which the warmth and breath of the circumjacent animals must produce some effect. 2nd. That the dung and urine of the stock, cannot be conveniently collected into one mass, and the latter into one and the same reservoir. To cellars under barns, for the reception of manure, I have an insuperable objection: independent of the injurious effects that must result from the exhalations of the large mass of manure in a state of fermentation, the most serious accidents may occur by the trapdoors, necessary to precipitate the manure from the stables into them, being carelessly left open, or not securely closed. I had a most valua ble mare dreadfully mangled by her hind leg slipping into such an aperture. A quadrangle, with the principal barn on the north, and the entrance on the south side, or at the south-west corner, is certainly the best form for a farm yard. I have seen several remedies for the ravages of those pests, the cutworm and turnip-fly, and, among others, lime has been recommended as a specific. To prevent your readers wasting their time in useless experiments, I will relate the result of two which I made last summer. I placed three cut-worms in a saucer, filled with earth and fresh slaked lime in equal parts. On visiting them a few hours afterwards, I found two had escaped; these I discovered at a short distance in high health. I restored them to their less impatient companion and placed a board over Silk in its curious properties, must here be regarded as an anomaly. The essential or chemical properties of wool, hair and fur, are very similar, or the same; as also hoofs, nails, feathers. The specific or characteristic distinctions between these various productions, are at present principally depedent on their application to manufacturing purposes. The distinctive identification of wool, independent of its grow. ing on the back of a sheep, are but few. The peculiar coil, or crimp of its fibre, like the coiled wire in a spring cushion, and its elasticity, are to me its most prominent features. If the best material for making cloth called wool, is found on the sheep's back, without going into distinctions of too great nicety, that is the place to go for it. The best kind of fur suitable for hats, is found on the back of the Otter and Beaver, It is an inquiry to which I would invite the curious naturalist, to point out the characteristic differences between hair, fur, wool, feathers, &c. independent of its production and application. The consideration of the covering of animals is particularly interesting. Its incorruptibility, and yet its suceptibility to change. I have seen the aborignal remains of the human frame disclosed by excavation, of which the hair and bones were the only vestages: the hair more perfect and entire than the bones. Yet there are on record many well authenticated instances of persons under circumstances of extreme terror and distress, having their hair turn gray in one day! I have known one person who was gray at the age of eighteen, and yet in good health. I do not know but gray hairs adhere with the same tenacity, and are as strong as others-who can explain the modus operandi ? Quadrupeds, in assuming their winter dress, and birds in autumnal molting, assume a dimmer coat and darker hue. chaser will be, how much staple wool, No. 1, or No. 2, have you? according to his requirements as to quality. This will at once simplify A sentiment has been promulgated, and is now vibrating on the ear the process of purchase, and establish the production of wool upon its of folly, that fine wool can only be produced on ill conditioned sheep.proper basis. A good flock will then be a good flock in the market, by Compare the fine glossy coat of the courser and gig-horse, with that of the decision of a good judge. A fair decision can in no case be had, but F. the meagre and deserted hackney and dray; or the glistening plumage by a competent, disinterested and independent judge. of a full-fed bird, and the faded feathers of the setting hen. No. V.-On the habits, management of sheep, and production of wool. The wool is dependent on the condition of the skin, and the skin is dependent on the condition of the animal. Tanners understand this, and will not pay full price for the skins of animals which die of starvation or disease. Picking or plucking of wool, ought to be unknown to a good shepherd, and is even now reluctantly acknowledged by bad ones. The non-conducting electrical property of wool, hair and feathers, a familiar instance known to all the boys, viz. stroking the back of a black cat with the hand, in a dry, cold, dark night. There are some curious considerations, subject to the development, or arising from the influence, of light on animal covering. The inves tigation of the French naturalists, has resulted in the opinion that women, with red, auburn or sandy hair, are the best nurses. Light complexioned persons are most disposed to scrofula; dark, to a melancholic disposition. This is not to be received in disparagement of those who have black hair, for on scriptural authority, who can "make one hair white or black?" Still, there may be some such wonder-working cause in operation. Thence the popular supposition and prepossession, that red cattle and cows are better for beef and butter, and the strong prejudices against white. That white horses, and those with white legs and nose, are more subject to scratches. With white or wall eyes, skittish. Black sheep, never fine. Felting, or entanglement, is a poperty of fur better understood by experience, than can be described by language. Hair, horse-hair, bristles, &c. will not felt; fur will. Wool possesses an intermediate property; the nearer it approximates fur, the more valuable for the purpose of clothing. The most perfect wool is produced on a healthy sheep, and on those uniformly kept in good condition. AN ESSAY ON GRASSES. At the request of a gentleman proposing to publish an agricultural work, we drew up for his use, some time ago, a compendium of Loudon's chapters on grasses, omitting such parts as were deemed of little use here, and adding such facts as were most likely to render it serviceable to American husbandry. The projected work was not published; and the manuscript having been returned to us, we now proceed to publish it in the Cultivator, as well in reply to may inquiries which have been addressed to us on this subject, as in the hope of rendering an acceptable service to all our patrons. OF THE CULTURE OF HERBAGE PLANTS. Under this head Mr. Loudon has embraced the clovers, lucern, saintfoin (Hedysarum onobrychis,) burnet (Poterium sanguisorba,) ribwort plaintain (Plantago lanceolata.) the whin (Ulex europeus,) the spurry (Spergula arvensis,) the broom (Spartium scoparum,) the parsley (Api um petroselinum,) the birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus,) the wall flower, yarrow, &c. As the saintfoin is peculiarly adapted to chalk soils, of which we have none, and as every attempt to cultivate it in this country has proved unsuccessful;-and as the other plants enumerated are either considered as noxious, or unfitted for field culture here, the notice of this chapter will be limited to the clovers and lucern. The cultivation of clovers and herbage plants, used exclusively as food for live stock, is comparatively a modern improvement. They were not introduced into Britain till the sixteenth century. Their introduction among us, on any thing like a general scale, was far more recent, and indeed may be said to be among the improvements of the present century. But at present clovers are deemed indispensable in all good Fur felting and wool felting, are somewhat analogous. From the fine-farming; and particularly on light soils and in alternate husbandry. ness and durability of the best hats, it is obvious that wool best dispos- In Flanders, where husbandry underwent its earliest improvements, ed to full will make the most durable cloth. On this principle, fine and where it is found now most to excel, clovers are deemed indispenelastic wool will make more cloth per pound, and a more durable fabric. sable to good husbandry. Upon their cultivation, says Radcliff, hinges From its elasticity it yields and gives way to resistance, neither break-apparently the whole of the farmer's prosperity." Without elover, ing like straw, or suffering friction: hence more durable. Fine wool, no man in Flanders would pretend to call himself a farmer." It is in its approach to fur, is also a warmer covering. there used, as it should be here, as food for both plants and animals. Sec. 1. The clover family—Trifolium L. Diadel. Duan L. avd Leguminosea J. There are certain articles of traffic, denominated staple articles, that is, which are indispensable to life, viz. food and clothing. The market is always intermediate between the vender and the purchaser, and regulates the price. It is not the amount of stuff in pounds that is most valuable to the manufacturer, whether hair or wool, or an indefinite admixture, but wool that will make the most and best cloth for durability, warmth and beauty-having the least waste and inviting the best paymaster. If the manufacturer will say to the wool grower, quantity is preferable to quality; and the purchaser of cloth will say to the manufacturer, coarse cloth is preferable to fine, for beauty, warmth and wear, then may we expect to see the goat stand in the place of the high-bred meri no, and the wonderful improvement in modern machinery sacrificed to wilful ignorance. That fine wool can be produced as easily as coarse, without capital, care and discrimination, is absolutely inadmissable, any more than purchasing superfine cloth at the same cost of coarse. Gold is not found in this way. Bleaching by heavy rains, dew and fogs, although not a property of wool, is a consideration. Wool, cotton, hemp and flax, long subjected to the direct or alternate influence of great moisture and intense solar heat, loses its cohesive property. Cloth, feathers, wool, &c. soon decay upon being subjected to solar and humid atmospheric influence. The species of clover in cultivation are the red clover (Trifolium pratense) a biennial, and sometimes, especially on chalky soils, a triennial plant, known from the other species by its broad leaves, luxuriant growth, and reddish purple flowers. The white, or creeping, or Dutch clover (T. repens) is a perennial plant, known by its creeping stems and white flowers. The yellow clover, hop-trefoil, or shamrock clover (T. procumbens) a biennial, known by its procumbent shoots, yellow flowers and black seeds. The cow grass, meadow clover or marl grass (T. medium) a perennial, resembling the red clover, but of a paler hue, dwarfer habit, with pale red or whitish flowers, and long roots, very sweet to the taste. Trifolium incarnatum, an annual, a native of Italy, but little known either in the U. States or G. Britain, and the character of which for usefulness cannot yet be fully decided on. Will not endure our winters, but would probably do in Pennsylvania and south. In the choice of sorts, the red or broad leaved is most generally cultivated. It yields the heaviest burthen. Yet some prefer the cow grass, distinguished in the northern states as southern clover. It comes in flower, and is fit to cut, ten or fourteen days earlier than the broad variety. It will yield a crop of hay, and afterwards a crop of seed. The white and yellow clovers are seldom sown to any extent. They come in spontaneously on many soils, and are a valuable accession for pasture uses. Hence the difference between the delightful, bewitching, silky curls of the miss of ten and sixteen, and the weather-beaten head of a rugged cow-boy without a hat. Age likewise exerts its influence. Could not a blind man by the touch distinguish the difference between the downy softness of the infant hair, and the harsh covering of the aged head? Wool from a very old or diseased sheep, is diminished in firmness of texture, is not so strong. The three or four first clippings of wool are||application of lime or gypsum, upon most soils, will call into action the best. The soil best adapted for clover is a deep sandy loam, which will freely admit the long tap-roots; but it will grow in any soil, provided it be dry. Calcareous soils are peculiarly congenial to clover; and the clover seeds, which would appear to have before laid dormant. Plaster of Paris has a magic influence in accelerating its growth, where this mineral is not neutralized by the influence of marine air; and when this is the case, lime and ashes serve as good substitutes. The different qualities of wool, as to length, fineness, elasticity and softness, grown on an individual sheep, have in European countries, produced an officer called wool stapler, or sorter, as yet little known in this country. His business is to assort the individual fleeces of a flock, The time of sowing is commonly in the spring, with the spring crop, and apportion it, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, as to quality. And in this way, and before the last harrowing; or upon winter grain in March or April, from experience, like the inspector of beef and pork, render it tangible followed by a light harrow, and sometimes without it. Yet clover is to the purchaser, and at the same time fix the reputation of the flock. often sown in Sept. or Oct. with the seed corn. The objection against If I was desirous of a judgment, I should want it by a competent the latter practice is, that the tender plants are liable to be destroyed judge. When we arrive at this point in our country, we shall be on by the winter. Rolling the ground after seeds have been covered by fair ground. One man's flock will staple three-quarters first quality; the harrow is of manifest advantage: It produces a smooth surface one one-half; another one-third. Then the only inquiry of the pur-breaks the clods, and compresses the earth about the seeds, and thus per acre, and in this state, in the London market, it generally sells 20 facilitates their germination. A light harrow may also be employed in the spring, upon winter grain, with advantage to the grain and seeds. The quantity of seed sown on an acre, depends upon the quality of the soil, the purpose to which the field is to be applied, and the quantity of grass seeds sown with it. As much of the seed sown upon The produce in seed, is stated by Dickson at from three to five bushels clays does not germinate, allowance should be made for the failure; per acre. Clover will not perfect its seeds, if saved for that purpose yet upon these and wet grounds, the main dependance, after the first early in the year; therefore it is necessary to take off the first growth, year, is upon timothy or other grasses sown with it. If the object is||or keep it down with sheep till late in May, either by feeding or with pasture, the variety of seeds should be as extensive as practicable, as the scythe, and to depend for the seed on those heads that are prothe object is to obtain an abundance of food at all seasons, and to ren- duced in autumn. der it perennial. Timothy and herdsgrass (red-top) are suitable accompaniments on moist, and orchard grass and tall meadow oat grass on dry grounds. The usual quantity of seed sown on the acre is about ten pounds, though in Great Britain it is often increased to fourteen pounds, while in Flanders it is but six pounds, though there the land is admirable fitted to receive it. The after culture of clover consists in freeing the surface of stones and sticks, the soil from docks and thistles, and in applying an annual top-dressing of gypsum, or when this is inoperative, of lime or ashes. The top-dressing is best applied in the spring before the clover begins to grow. Upon lands annually dressed with plaster, a bushel is considered a sufficient dressing for an acre, though greater quantities are often applied with advantage. ON THE USE OF LIME AS A MANURE.-BY M. PUVIS. Translated for the Farmers' Register from the Annales de l' Agriculture Fran caise, of 1835. ON THE DIFFERENT MODES OF IMPROVING THE SOIL. To improve the soil is to modify its composition in such manner as to render it more fertile. The definition, which might be extended to manures charged with vegetable mould [humus] or animal substances, which also modify the composition of the soil, is limited by French agriculture to substances which act upon the soil, or upon plants, without containing any notable proportion of animal or vegetable matter. It is said that manures, [putrescent or enriching,] serve for the nusoil, which furnish to it matters which it needs to be fruitful, and which furnish to vegetables, the earths and saline compounds which enter as essential elements in their composition, their texture, and their preducts. Such improving substances ought well to be regarded as nutritive. The making clover into hay is a process different from that of mak-triment of plants. But it is the same as to substances improving to the ing hay from natural grasses. All herbage plants abound most in nu triment, and should be cut, before the seeds are formed, and indeed before fully in blossom, that the full juice and nourishment of the plant may be retained in the hay. A crop of clover, when cut in the early part of the season, may be ten per cent lighter than when it is fully ripe; but the loss is amply counterbalanced, by obtaining an earlier, Thus lime, marl, and all the calcareous compounds employed in aga more valuable, and more nutritious article; while the next crop will riculture, since they furnish lime and its compounds, which sometimes proportionably be more heavy. The hay from old herbage will carry||form half of the fixed principles of vegetables, ought also to be conon stock, but it is only hay from young herbage that will fatten them. sidered as aliments; or, what comes to the same, as furnishing a part When the stems of clover become hard and sapless, by being allowed of the substance of vegetables. Thus again, wood-ashes, pounded to bring their seeds towards maturity, they are of little more value as bones, burnt bones, which furnish to vegetation the calcareous and saprovender than an equal quantity of the finer sort of straw. line phosphates which compose a sixth of the fixed principles of the stalks, and three-fourths of their seeds, ought well to be considered, and surely are, nutritive. What then particularly marks the distinction between manures which improve the soil [amendemens,] and alimentary manures, [engrais,] is that the former furnish, for the greater part, the fixed principles of vegetables, the earths, and salts, which are not met with ready formed, neither in the soil or in the atmosphere; while alimentary manures furnish a small part of the volatile principles which are abundantly diffused throughout the atmosphere, whence vegetables draw them, by means of suitable organs: and what is most remarkable, is, that the vegetable, by receiving the fixed principles of which it has need, acquires, as we shall see, a greater energy to gather for its sustenance the volatile principles which the atmosphere contains. The greater part then of the soils, to be carried to the highest rate of productiveness, requires manures to improve their constitution. Alimentary manures give much vigor to the leafy products-but they multiply weeds, both by favoring their growth and conveying their seeds-and they often cause crops [of small grain] to be lodged, when they are heavy. Manures which improve the soil, more particularly aid the formation of the seeds, give more solidity to the stalks, and prevent the falling of the plants. But it is in the simultaneous employment of these two means of fertilization by which we give to the soil all the active power of which it is susceptible. They are necessary to each other, doubling their action reciprocally: and whenever they are employed together, fertility goes on without ceasing-increas. The mode of making clover hay, as practised by the best farmers, is as follows: The clover is cut close to the ground, in as uniform and perfect a manner as it is possible to accomplish, by the scythe kept| constantly sharp. What part of the stem is left by the scythe is not only lost, but the aftergrowth is neither so vigorous nor so weighty as when the first cutting is taken as low as possible. As soon as the swath is partially wilted, let it be gently turned over, but not spread or scattered, without breaking it. This may be done with forks or rakes. If the weather is fair, and the clover cut in the morning, the swaths may be turned after dinner; and if mowed after noon they may be turned before evening; at which time those turned after dinner may be put into grass cocks. This last operation should be performed with care, and in this manner. Three swaths are appropriated to a row of cocks. The laborer gathers a good fork full, and deposites it on the centre swath, if the ground is dry, if not in one of the intervals, putting it down gently, so that the cock may present a small base; he then continues to gather and deposite in the same way until the cock is brought to a point, at the height of 4 to 5 feet, according to the dryness of the clover,-the dryer this is the higher the cock may be made. When completed the grass cock is two to three feet broad at the ground, tapering to the apex, and the projecting ends of the herbage drooping, so as to carry off the rain which may fall. The points to be regarded are, to cock before the leaves begin to crumble, and not to suffer the dew to fall upon the dried surface of the swath. These grass cocks may stand to advantage 36 hours without any prejudice, and should not be opened until there is a fair prospecting instead of diminishing. of obtaining a few hours of good weather to complete the curing proness. When this is the case, open the cocks as soon as the dew is off, spread them partially, four to six inches thick. If the day is good the spread clover may be turned over between twelve and two, and in an hour or two afterwards gathered for the barn. By this process of curing the leaves are all preserved, injury from dew and rain is in a great measure avoided, the stocks are better dried, and the appearance and value of the forage is retained in its highest perfection. If rain is apprehended, after the grass cocks have stood a night, these may be doubled, by putting one upon the top of another, and dressing with a rake. An intense sun is almost as prejudicial to clover as rain; and therefore it should not be shook out, spread or exposed, oftener than is necessary for its preservation. The more the swath is kept unbroken, the more green and fragrant will be the hay. The secret of making good hay, says Low, is to prepare it as quickly as possible, and with as little exposure to the weather, and as little waste of the natural juices, as circumstances will allow. When we are enabled to do this, the hay will be sweet, fragrant and of a greenish colour. The produce of clover, on the best soils, is from two to three tons The greater part of improving substances are calcareous compounds. Their effect is decided upon all soils which do not contain lime, and we shall see that three-fourths, perhaps of the lands of France are in that state. The soils not calcareous, whatever may be their culture, and whatever may be the quantity of manure lavished on them, are not suitable for all products-are often cold and moist, and are covered with weeds. Calcareous manures, by giving the lime which is wanting in such soils, complete their advantages, render the tillage more easy, destroy the weeds, and fit the soil for all products. The improving substances have been called stimulants; they have been thus designated because it was believed that their effect consisted only in stimulating the soil and the plants. This designation is faulty, because it would place these substances in a false point of view. It would make it seem that they brought nothing to the soil, nor to plants and yet their principal effect is to give to both principles which are wanting. Thus the main effect of calcareous manures proceed from their giving, on the one hand, to the soil the calcareous principle which it does not contain, and which is necessary to be able to develop its full action on the atmosphere-and on the other hand, to vegetables, the quantity which they require of this principles, for their frame-work, and their intimate constitution. It would then be a better definition || city, has abundant leisure for reading and intellectual improvement. than that above, to say that to improve the soil is to give to it the prin- There are many stormy days when his out-door labors are omitted; ciples which it requires, and does not contain. Young Men's Department. there are his Sundays, which, with the exception of the hours devoted to public worship, are usually uninterrupted; there are long and still evenings of winter, which, without some intellectual resources, are most likely to be spent in drowsiness, or too often in a manner far From the New-York Farmer. worse, at the shop or the tavern. What favored seasons are these for THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION TO FARMERS. the delightful companionship of books! what inexhaustible sources of BY HENRY COLMAN.-(Concluded.) innocent and refined pleasure are here opened to a man's self! and What, however, is practical skill itself but the avails of knowledge? what abundant opportunities for communicating instruction and pleaWhen a man does a thing well, even in the most humble mechanical sure to one's family! and with respect to the young especially, hangart, we say he knows how to do it. Careful inquiry and observation, ing upon us with all the confidence of affection and reverence, of added to repeated trials, have taught him the best mode of operation. laying a foundation and adopting the best means for their improveNow, may not others avail themselves of what he has learned, and ment! "Studies," says Bacon, "serve for delight, for ornament, and for save the expense of time and trouble necessary in repeating the expe- use." Cicero passes a still higher encomium upon them, in his beautiriments which he has made, and going over again and again the same ful oration for Archias. "Studies give strength in youth, and joy in ground which he has traversed? Is not the great part of all know-old age. They adorn prosperity and are the support and consolation ledge, especially that of a practical nature, the fruit or result of expe- of adversity. At home they are delightful to us; they present no imriment? and wherever and however this knowledge has been obtained, pediment to business; they pass the night with us; they are the comought we not gladly to use it? and does not even the most practi- panions of our journeys; and they give a charm to our rural retirecal man, if he has any pretensions to common sense, carefully and ments." Education immensely enlarges the capacity and disposition necessarily avail himself, in every department of business, of this to receive pleasure from natural phenomena, objects, and scenery.knowledge, which has been the acquisition and accumulation of centu-The scientific classification of the clouds makes them objects of new ries? May not this knowledge, then be communicated in, and gathered interest. The knowledge of the names and places of the stars introfrom a printed paper, a book, as well as in any other form? indeed in duces us to a kind of living and almost speaking familiarity and comthis form, rather than any other, with many obvious advantages? panionship with them, which enlivens the solitude of the stillest evenIf, then, knowledge is not only valuable, but indispensible in the most ing, and the most retired walk; and fills the mind with noble, elesimple operations of practical husbandry, it is still more necessary in vated, and irrepressible aspirations. Botany, chemistry, mineralogy, all its higher departments. The nature of soils, the nature and pro- multiply, indefinitely, our sources of pleasure, and give an interest and perties of manures, the varieties of plants, their seasons, cultivation value to objects, which we might otherwise trample upon without noand uses, the raising of animals and the improvement of their breeds, tice, or pass by with utter indifference. Natural philosophy, natural the construction of even the mould-board of a plough, are all matters history, in all their branches, people every part of the physical world, to of science and philosophy; which come to the man not by intuition; which we can have access, with objects of delightful and absorbing inwhich are to be learnt; for the improved condition of which, we are terest; and to the inquisitive and enlightened mind, unlock treasures indebted to the experiments and studies of intelligent and sagacious infinitely better than golden treasures which are hermetically sealed to minds, who have given days and years to the examination and trial of the incurious and ignorant. Before the farmer, the privileged resident them; for which even the most common farmer, who opens a furrow, in the country, the book of natural theology spreads its instructive, amis greatly in their debt. To deny the obligation, is most ungrateful; ple, and brilliant page. The most ignorant can scarcely remain alto wrap ourselves in the conceit of our own perfected wisdom, and to ways unmoved by it; but study and science are necessary to read it refuse to avail ourselves of the result of other inquiries and experi- with advantage and effect. The enlightened mind only can interpret, ments on subjects, where we can only be said as yet to have reached with a force and eloquence true to the original, its mystic characters, the shores of the great ocean of truth, would be consumate folly. and penetrate the depths of its fountains of wisdom; the enlightened We say that agriculture is most largely indebted to science. All the mind only can see, in the greatness, grandeur, and glory of the works of great improvements which have been made in the art, are due to sci- nature, its overpowering demonstrations of design and skill; its wonderence. Intelligent men, learned men, sagacious, inquisitive, scientific, ful exhibitions of creative power and wisdom; its exuberant, unboundexperimenting men, the bright lights of society, who are always in ad- ed, and inexhaustible pourings out of beneficence and love. vance of their age, are the men who have led the way in agricultural, But I must stop. I fear I have already drawn too largely on the inas well as in every other improvement in society. They have brought dulgence of my readers. I have thrown out these very general nothe power of mind to bear on this great subject; and wherever its rays tions of the importance of science and education to farmers, as prepahave been concentrated, they have kindled a flame which has served ratory to some more detailed and practical views, which at a future and to cheer and to guide the humble laborer, otherwise groping in dark- convenient season, I may take occasion to lay before the readers of ness, to treasures buried in the earth, which, without it, he never could the New-York Farmer. There is, I repeat it, as it seems to me, no have reached, and whose existence, otherwise, he never would have class in the community to whom education, scientific and literary edususpected. Science, within a century, has more than quadrupled the cation, is more important than to the farmers. There is no businessproducts of the earth; has immeasurably abridged the toil of the hus- pursuit or profession, exclusive of the learned professions, whose situ bandman; and has made the labor, which he does bestow, ineffably ation is, in most respects, more favorable to it, and there is none, which more efficient than, without its aid, would have been rendered. To it would more benefit and adorn. Could more educated men be inducscience we owe the improved form of the plough, which will do twice ed to enter the profession; or rather, could there be all necessary and the work, with half the power, which could have been executed by the suitable provision made for educating those who are disposed to make clumsy implement of not many years since. To science we owe the agriculture the business of, life incalculable benefits would result from cultivator, the roller, the threshing mill, the cotton gin, the sugar press, it to the community. It would place the profession in the public esthe flour mill, the spinning jennie; and but for science, but what is timation, where it belongs, as among the most innocent, useful, honocontemptuously termed book-knowledge, we must now have been sa-rable, and happy in which men can engage; it would qualify the agritisfied with wearing the skins of our flocks, unshorn of their wool; and cultural class, whose character and influence so essentially concern the have been left to the miserable necessity of planting our corn with a honor and welfare of the country, for the right performance of their stick or a clamshell; and grinding it in a hollow stone, with an Indian high duties; it would serve vastly to extend the agricultural resources pestle. and multiply the products of the country, and thus immeasurably in. What science has yet in store for agriculture, no sagacity can fore-crease its wealth and power; it would diffuse, in unimaginable amount, see. If we may judge from what it has done, we may look forward to the means and resources of domestic comfort and enjoyment; and, as most extensive and more valuable improvements. Education is most in every other case of the advancement of the spiritual and intellectual important and useful to the farmer, in enabling him to avail himself of over the animal and sensual nature, it would spread a salutary moral what has already been achieved; and in qualifying him for, and stimu-influence through all the circulations, and to the utmost limits of the lating him to, new advances. In the art and science of agriculture, let social body. Meadowbanks, Nov. 1825. men speak of it with what disdain their ignorance or self-conceit may prompt, there is room and occasion for the exercise of the highest intellectual abilities; here, as in every other case, knowledge is power; To the Agricultural Convention, Assembled at the Capitol in Albany, and knowledge constitutes a productive capital; and here, other circumstances being equal, knowledge will not fail to give all the advan tages over ignorance, which it confers in any other department of bu-private wealth. The more fertility we can impart to the one, and the siness or of life. We urge the importance of education upon the farmer, as among his greatest and most valuable resources of comfort and enjoyment. The farmer, even in the most busy situation, but especially remote from the ADDRESS OF J. BUEL, on the 8th Feb. 1828. GENTLEMEN-Land and labor are the principal sources of public and more intelligence we can infuse into the other, the greater will be the returns they make, and the greater our means of happiness; for it is wealth, rightly employed, that enables us to multiply not only our own, but the comforts and happiness of those around us. Yet it is not a few |